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Whitey Bulger arrested

Whitey Bulger arrested

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas..._years_on_run/
Fugitive South Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, wanted for 19 murders, was captured last night in Southern California, the result of a tip from FBI television spots that began airing this week. His capture ended a 16-year manhunt that spanned the globe.

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, and Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, released a statement this morning confirming that FBI agents had arrested the fugitive, who was on the bureau's Ten Most Wanted list, and his companion, Catherine Greig, in California. Neither resisted arrest.

"Recent publicity produced a tip that led agents to a residence in Santa Monica, California, where they located Bulger and Greig Wednesday evening," the statement said.

The arrests of Bulger, 81, and Greig, 60, were initially announced by FBI headquarters on Twitter.

The arrest is a long-sought victory for the FBI, whose reputation was sullied by its connection to the mobster and whose fruitless efforts to find the fugitive had been regarded by some with suspicion.

Bulger did not appear to be in good health, an official said.

"I don't think he's in a position to be fighting anybody," the official said, adding, "They got a confession from him."

Bulger's brother, former president of the state Senate William M. Bulger, had little to say this morning when a reporter knocked on the door of his South Boston home.

"No comment," said William Bulger, who answered the door in his T-shirt. Informed that his brother had been arrested, Bulger said, "Thank you."

Assistant US Attorney Brian Kelly, part of the prosecution team that brought the federal charges against Whitey Bulger, said this morning, "It's a long time coming and we're glad he's finally in custody."

Bulger fled just before his federal racketeering indictment in January 1995. It was later revealed in federal court in Boston that he was a longtime FBI informant who had been warned by his corrupt handler, former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., that he was about to be arrested.

Betrayed by the revelation that Bulger was an informant, several of his former associates began cooperating against him, leading to the discovery of secret graves of his victims in the Boston area and additional charges that Bulger murdered 19 people.

According to the Los Angeles Times, authorities had investigated two possible Bulger sightings in Southern California. In 2000, a tipster reported seeing Greig having her hair done at a salon in Fountain Valley, the newspaper reported. In 2005, the FBI investigated whether Bulger may have been the elderly man who robbed three Orange County banks.

But ultimately, the trail appeared to grow cold and no link was made to the mobster.

On Monday, the FBI announced that after years of focusing on Bulger, it was launching a new initiative aimed at daytime TV viewers.

It began airing a 30-second public service announcement in 14 cities across the United States urging people to be on the lookout for Greig, a dental hygienist who was devoted to her appearance, had plastic surgery in the past, and frequently had her hair cut and teeth cleaned. The spots aired during daytime shows, including, "Ellen," "The View," and "Live with Regis & Kelly."

A woman who answered the door at the South Boston home of Greig's sister, Margaret McCusker, was told of the arrest by a Globe reporter this morning. "They found him? Finally," she said. "I want my sister to come home."

On Monday, the FBI announced that after years of focusing on Bulger, it was launching a new initiative aimed at daytime TV viewers.

It began airing a 30-second public service announcement in 14 cities across the United States urging people to be on the lookout for Greig

What a coincidence...

(Conspiracy Theory)

He's got a terminal health issue, FBI has known where's he been for a LONG time but now that he has less than 4-6 months to live, they bring him in from the cold so as to look like heros... Dies peacefully in custody under gov't funded health care... Now dead, there's no testimony shitting on higher ups who protected him and then girlfriend is set free... Hands washed... Case closed...

"Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack. -- Gen. George S. Patton

Public ID of Woman Who Outed Boston Crime Boss James 'Whitey' Bulger Puts Tipster In Danger, Former Prosecutors Say

Two former prosecutors say the public naming of a woman credited for tipping off investigators on the whereabouts of former Boston crime boss James Whitey Bulger could put her in grave danger.

The identity of the tipster, first reported by the Boston Globe on Sunday, is an Icelandic woman named Anna Bjornsdottir, a former Miss Iceland who had befriended Bulger's girlfriend after the two women took an interest in a local stray cat in Santa Monica, Calif. Bjornsdottir reportedly received $2 million in reward money for the information that led to Bulger's arrest.

Randy Mastro, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who specialized in organized crime cases, described the leak as a "serious breach" that could put Bjornsdottir in danger.

"In the case involving a mob boss with a history of violence and murder, maintaining the confidentiality of the informant takes on a particular priority," Mastro told FoxNews.com. "Such a witness would definitely be at risk."

Former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan claims the leak could have a "chilling effect" on other potential government witnesses.

"There is a huge risk to the (tipster) program, generally, to be able to cultivate informants if their identification is at risk," Sullivan told the Boston Herald. "It has a chilling effect."

"The concern in a situation like this is that it might dissuade other witnesses from coming forward," added Mastro, though he said it's too early to know what effect, if any, it will have on future witnesses.

Bjornsdottir, who was crowned Miss Iceland in 1974, split her time between Iceland and Santa Monica, where the fugitive couple was living at the time of their arrest.

BOSTON (AP)  A man who had hoped to testify in the ongoing racketeering trial of reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger and openly despised him has been found dead, authorities said Thursday.

A jogger discovered the body of Stephen Rakes on Wednesday afternoon in Lincoln, Mass., and there were no obvious signs of trauma, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said.

Authorities were conducting an autopsy to determine the 59-year-old Quincy man's cause and manner of death.

Prosecutors say Rakes and his former wife were forced to sell Bulger their South Boston liquor store in 1984 to use as a headquarters for his gang and as a source of legitimate income. But a government witness gave a differing account on the stand last week.

Rakes attended Bulger's trial every day through Tuesday, when he was last seen there.

Rakes' former wife, Julie Dammers, said in a telephone interview Thursday that she knew of his death, but asked for privacy.

Bulger, the former leader of South Boston's Winter Hill Gang, spent 16 years on the run, becoming one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted before authorities captured him and his girlfriend in California in 2011. He is charged with participating in 19 murders but maintains his innocence.

Rakes was a vocal critic of Bulger leading up to the trial, saying in April when Bulger appeared in court for the first time in about two years that he began hyperventilating when he first saw the defendant. Rakes said Bulger wouldn't look his way.

"The day I see him in a box, not breathing, will be better," Rakes told The Associated Press that day.

Rakes was eager to get on the witness stand, according to Tommy Donahue, son of alleged Bulger victim Michael Donahue. But prosecutors told the judge Tuesday who their remaining witnesses would be and Rakes wasn't among them.

"He said he wanted to get up there and tell his side of the story," Donahue said Thursday.

Rakes was upset when he left the courthouse Tuesday, said Steven Davis, the brother of alleged Bulger victim Debra Davis. But Davis said he wasn't sure why.

Davis said he had repeatedly called Rakes, a friend of his, since Tuesday but had not heard back.

Last week, the testimony of Bulger's former right-hand man, Kevin Weeks, included his account of how Bulger acquired Rakes' store nearly three decades ago.

Weeks denied that the gang forced Rakes to sell the store, saying Rakes had agreed to an offer from Bulger to buy the store for $100,000.

He said when they arrived at Rakes' house to close the deal, Rakes said his wife didn't want to sell the store and complained about the selling price.

"He was trying to shake us down," Weeks said from the witness stand.

Weeks said he pulled a gun out of his waistband and put it on a table, in front of Rakes' two young daughters, who were in the room. One of the girls was bouncing on Bulger's lap and reached for the gun, and Bulger told Weeks to put it away.

Bulger told Rakes that he couldn't back out of the sale and they made the deal, according to the testimony.

Rakes was present for the testimony and later disputed the account, saying he was forced to sell the liquor store.

"Kevin continues to lie, as usual, because that's what he has to do," Rakes said that day. "My liquor store was never for sale  never, never, never."

In the lead-up to Bulger's trial, Rakes described South Boston as a different place from the days when some thought of Bulger as a benevolent tough guy who gave away Thanksgiving turkeys and helped elderly women cross the street.

He said as South Boston's property values went up, new people moved in, and the neighborhood changed. Rakes said Bulger's image also underwent a transformation as years passed.

"There are still people in this town who still stay he was a gentleman," Rakes told the AP. "But there aren't too many of them left."

BOSTON (AP)  Former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for his murderous reign of terror in the 1970s and '80s, bringing to a close a case that exposed FBI corruption so deep that many people across the city thought he would never be brought to justice.

Bulger, 84, was defiant to the end, calling his trial on racketeering charges a sham and refusing to testify or provide information to probation officials preparing a sentencing report for the judge.

A jury convicted Bulger in August in a broad racketeering indictment that included murder, extortion, money-laundering and weapons charges. The jury convicted Bulger in 11 of the 19 killings he was charged with participating in but acquitted him of seven and could not reach a conclusion on an eighth.

Judge Denise Casper heard testimony Wednesday from a dozen relatives among the 19 slaying victims. They called him a terrorist, a punk and even Satan. Prosecutors called him a sociopath.

On Thursday, Casper told Bulger the depravity of his crimes is "almost unfathomable," calling them "heinous" and "all about money." Bulger looked directly at her, listening intently.

"The testimony of human suffering that you and your associates inflicted on others was at times agonizing to hear and painful to watch," Casper said.

She then sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences plus five years, as prosecutors had requested.

Bulger, the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's sinister character in the 2006 movie "The Departed," was seen for years as a Robin Hood figure who bought Thanksgiving turkeys for working-class South Boston residents and kept hard drugs out of the neighborhood. But that image was shattered when authorities started digging up bodies more than a decade ago.

Prosecutors at his two-month trial portrayed him as a cold-blooded, hands-on boss who killed anyone he saw as a threat, along with innocent people who happened to get in the way.

Corrupt Boston FBI agents protected Bulger for years while he worked simultaneously as a crime boss and an FBI informant who ratted out the rival New England Mafia and other crime groups.

Former Boston FBI agent John Connolly Jr.  Bulger's handler when he was an informant  was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of tipping him off ahead of an indictment. After receiving the tip in 1994, Bulger fled Boston and remained a fugitive for more than 16 years until he was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

Connolly was later convicted of second-degree murder in Florida for leaking information to Bulger that led to the slaying of a gambling executive.

"Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack. -- Gen. George S. Patton

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